1. Peace Marshal- Like a School Prefct? - Ng Cheuk Yin, Billy |
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Peace Marshal- Like a School Prefect?This is my second year in the CityU Student Residence. I wanted to know more about real working environments and get some work experience, so I applied for the jobs of the On-Campus Service Learning Scheme offered by the Student Residence Office. At the interview, I said I enjoyed communicating with others and was assigned to the post of Peace Marshal. After one month of work experience, I find the experience very interesting and wonderful. When I first came to the Student Residence, it was a brand new experience for me and I hung out a lot downstairs on the lawn. At that time, I knew that there were some students patrolling around and trying to keep everybody quiet. They were Peace Marshals. At first, I did not have a very good impression of them; it seemed that they were just like school prefects in high schools checking everybody. But when I was assigned to this job, I found it a lot more than patrolling. This year, our Peace Marshal Team is going to use a more friendly approach, so that we can be friends with the residents and hope that they can work with us to maintain a peaceful and harmonious residence community for the common good. Most residents hanging out on the lawn are exchange students. When I chat with them in performing our “peaceful” duties and delivering friendly messages, I get some unexpected rewards. I can improve my English communication skills and learn more about other foreign cultures. And through our conversations, I have found that exchange students have their own reasons for hanging out on the lawn at night making noise. They told me that drinking is a way for them to socialize. They are all foreign to Hong Kong, so it is easier for them to stay together. But since they cannot visit friends in other Halls after visiting hours (12:00 midnight) and there are no other places where they can chat, they go to the lawn. Indeed, the exchange students are very nice and friendly to our Peace Marshals; sometimes they even offer us food and drinks. The second thing that I have learnt but still need to improve is being tactful in communicating with others. When some residents are not doing the right thing, for example, when they are making noise or going to places where they should not go, we cannot simply be friendly towards them but have to stop them doing it. This is very challenging when they are having a good time and they think that we are over-reacting to their behavior. We try to stop them with explanations. We invite them to think from the “common good” perspective and give them constructive suggestions. Most of the time, this works and the residents are cooperative. I find that friendliness and assertiveness are really useful approaches for communication and bridging different opinions. Being a Peace Marshal is lot more that just patrolling. It’s challenging but we can learn a lot from that. If you want to have some work experience and train your communication skills, becoming a Peace Marshal is one of the smartest choices. |
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和平大使住了宿舍兩年，想在第三個宿年來點改變。在2008年暑假申請了SRO的工作，數十人參與的面試中，我按著個人意願和興趣，提示了對和平大使(Pease Marshal)工作感興趣，最後選出六位和平大使，我便是其中一位。 在同學眼中和平大使可能沒有多特別。其實，我們的角色舉足輕重，同學們在晚上可否安睡，跟我們可有直接關係呢！我們就是在晚上出動，維持宿舍寧靜和平的大使。當保安接到噪音投訴，我們就會擔當「親善大使」，無論是交流生、本地生或內地生，都一視同仁，為他們營造一個舒適的居住環境。因此，我們在入宿初期，會「埋堆」，跟同學打好關係。由於部份同學剛到這裡，我們更加有責任向他們介紹宿舍，向他們宣傳作為宿生的責任，顧及他人需要，維持寧靜休息的空間。在剛開始接觸外國交換生時，心裡是有點害怕的，但踏出第一步後，他們友善地對我們表達理解，而我們都自然地與他們熟絡起來，閒時說笑，閒談中進行著文化的交流。 有時當同學玩得得意忘形，就會忘記了作為宿生的責任了。這時候我們就會「出動」，給他們溫馨的提醒，但大部份同學都很自律及合作。記得在聯舍中秋晚會過後，同學在禮堂外的草地繼續他們的餘興活動，不願離去。我心裡正煩惱著，「今晚是中秋節，同學玩得高興，在另一邊廂，宿舍的規則又不可漠視不理……怎辦呢？」後來請了保安來調解，同學說：「我們會離開的。」但卻不見他們有任何離去的行動，經大家協商，保安便說在半小時後回來，最後同學真的很合作，轉到別的地方去。想不到退一步反而就是解決問題的方法，用不著每次都「硬碰硬」，巧妙地實現了一種學生大使的「親和力」。 我在這方面經驗尚淺，但我是讀心理學的，當和平大使工作時會用到課本上的知識。實在很好！見的人多了，觀察細微了，如何去說服人，透過親和力去解決問題等等技巧，在一晚又一晚的經驗中，慢慢地累積了起來。 除了擔任「親善大使」，我們還得留意四週環境，遇有不尋常的地方，便要報告，以便跟進。這工作是很重要的，宿舍範圍很大，不常規的地方未必會留意。我們晚上當值時就會走遍宿舍每個角落，連宿舍的後巷，我們也會查察。此外，我們帶著「學生」這中間人身份，可以從學生角度出發，為宿舍的政策提供意見，令學校和學生達至雙贏。舉一個例，每晚兩點會關上天台門這個規例其實訂立了很久，但同學未必依從，最後學校為安全起見決定安裝門鎖，每晚兩點鎖上，如果門鎖遭強行打開，就會引發鳴聲。開學已久，都好像沒有在半夜被這個聲音吵醒，廣泛的宣傳功不可沒。我們幾位和平大使聽到在快要執行時，表達出我們的憂慮。同學未知學校嚴謹執時，同學會如常在深夜進出天台觸動鳴聲。故此，我們與學生宿舍處職員一同商量，廣泛地以不同形式向宿生宣傳，包括：電郵通知、張貼告示、派發傳單，保安口述、宿生會支持等。於是，正式推行時至現今，都沒有發生警鐘大鳴的事。 最後，不得不提我的隊友。和平大使是團隊工作的，加上保安員，「陣容強大」。每天晚上隊友們一起工作，在有需要時才請保安給予支援。但到目前為止，都未遇有危險情況。所以說，當Peace Marshal真的很 “Peace”，但別具義意。希望同學有機會能一試，加入我們的行列。 陳慕貞 |
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